Newlife Wellness Informative - Credit Card Company

I purchased a fence for my home 8 years ago for 14, 000, using US Bank credit card. I have faithfully paid the monthly balance of 355. since and have never used the card again; today my bank balance is 18,000 and the interest rate has risen to 35%;What can I do: I have paid them close to 40,000 and they tell me I should not just pay the minimum, but if I pay them 1000 a month it will still take 3 years and another 30,000 or more to pay off the 18,000 balance; is this legal?

The interest does influctuate over time, theres no flat interest rate. You should have check your every month to ensure to make sure that everything looks okay.

Posted by S on 2007-04-11:

With a high balance and a high interest rate... it is almost impossible to keep up. Credit cards can be your worst enemy... You might want to try and transfer the balance to a lower interest card... and then work to pay it off as fast as you can...

Posted by Anonymous on 2007-04-11:

For a credit card issuer to raise the rate to 35% they must have been spooked by something? Is your credit score low? Do you have a lot of credit card debt? If not call them and demand they lower the rate. If you have good credit do like Sparticus suggests and move the balance to another card or get a low interest 2nd trust deed. Good Luck!

Posted by grandma005 on 2007-04-11:

Lets see now 96 months at $355.00 a month equals $34,000 plus your current balance of $18,000 on a start balance of $14,000. Why in the world did you stay with this credit card for 8 years! You owe more that what you started with after giving them 34,000 dollars! At this rate when you die you will owe them more than what your house is worth. You must get rid of this credit card. This credit card is equal to a payday loan. You can never pay them off.

Posted by grandma005 on 2007-04-11:

Your problem is that you don't pay enough in payments each month to even cover the interest. According to Bankrate.com if you had of paid $560.00 a month for 96 months your loan would be paid off now. That is why you owe more than you did when you started. You are not only not paying any on the principal but the loan balance gets bigger each month because you are not paying enough to cover the interest.